


No Place I'd Rather Be

by mywritingbox



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 01:51:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13424175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mywritingbox/pseuds/mywritingbox
Summary: An anon asked for something to follow up The Sun, with Elain dealing with nightmares.





	No Place I'd Rather Be

 

Nightmares were not an uncommon phenomenon with the Archeron sisters. Each had their own burden to carry but each had found a way to share that burden.

Nightmares still haunted Elain every now and then but usually, Lucien was there. She would wake up in darkness and he would be the light that pulled her through.

Her mate. Her friend, who was slowly becoming her lover.

Since that [one night](http://mywritingbox.tumblr.com/post/166484487631/the-sun-elucien) she had gone to him to ward off the darkness, a sense of peace like no other had washed over her. She was adjusting and he was there to help her through it all. Lucien had started leaving his room unlocked and Elain slipped in nearly every night, wrapping herself around him and it was almost instantly that she would fall asleep. There was no place she’d rather be.

Their new sleeping arrangement however, was kept between them. Elain preferred it to avoid anyone questioning things neither of them were ready to explain; things they were still figuring out for themselves. Lucien preferred it to avoid Nesta and the certain assault she would unleash on him.

But when Lucien had to be away for a few days, sent on business by Rhysand making use of his excellent skills as an Emissary, Elain struggled more than she expected. Her nightmares still came but now they were worse. She kept drowning in the darkness but now Lucien kept  _dying_  and Elain could do nothing but watch as the light left his eyes every single night. By the third night this happened, Elain feared sleeping. The thought of her abilities as a Seer meaning her dreams could become a reality kept her wide awake.

Lucien had felt her distress through the bond and though he would send her soothing thoughts, it wasn’t the same. The thoughts would get her to sleep only for her to jolt right up the moment they stopped coming.

She tried everything afterwards. Elain had crept into his room every single night and slipped on one of his shirts then slipped between his sheets to envelope herself in his scent, hoping it would ward off the horrible dreams. Again, she would have a few moments of peace before the rude awakening of her nightmares found her again.

The Inner Circle each tried to offer her a different way to handle her lack of sleep but Elain knew what she needed. She needed Lucien. No one knew how to comfort her.  No one but Lucien would but he wasn’t there and the others didn’t even know he  _could_.

By the time Lucien was meant to return a week later, Elain was so sleep deprived her immediate reaction to everything was crying. Everyone else feared to say or do the wrong thing in case it caused the waterworks to begin. The day of his return, Lucien had come with gifts for Elain’s garden but found her supposedly asleep, at three in the afternoon.

“I’ve...felt how uncomfortable she’s been the past few days.” Lucien said carefully as he sat in the seating room of the High Lord and Lady’s townhouse, his own residence for the time being. Feyre sat in the seat across from him and sighed with a frown while Nesta sat scowling next to her.

“She can’t sleep.” Feyre explained. “We don’t know what’s triggering her nightmares so badly this time around. It wasn’t this horrible before but it’s been hard for her to get a decent night’s rest.”

“Did  _you_  do something?” Nesta asked accusingly, glaring at him and Lucien resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Lest she rip them out.

“Whenever I felt it, I just tried to send her calming thoughts.” he replied, carefully, again. They had an agreement, him and Elain. The moment everyone else found out, there would be a need for them to know  _everything_  and they had agreed on this as mates, to share when they were ready. “I’m not sure how well the calming thoughts worked though.”

Lucien was lying, of course. He knew very well that they did work, just not as well as his physical presence would have worked.

Before any of them could say another word, the sound of scurrying feet came tumbling down the stairs and all three individuals shot out of their seats as Elain stumbled into the room.

Elain knew she must’ve looked a mess; her hair rumpled, dark circles under her eyes, wearing nothing else but the wrinkled shirt she had stolen from his room, legs bear.

But Elain didn’t care. He was finally back and relief flooded so strongly through her that Lucien staggered back, overwhelmed by how strong it passed through the bond. Her eyes started watering and Lucien stared at her, worry all over his face.

“You’re back.” she whispered then sniffled.

“Yes, yes I am.” he confirmed, his eyes darting to her two sisters before landing back on her. He took in how exhausted she was and the fact that she was dressed the way she was told Lucien all he needed to know. He gave her a small smile. “I hope that’s okay.”

“You took too long.” she mumbled and inched closer, her bottom lip trembling. “I was afraid you’d...you’d die before you came back.”

It was Feyre and Nesta’s turn to look between the couple then each other in confusion.

“I was just on Emissary business, dove. Lots of talking, mostly.” he said gently, sending her a wave of affection through the bond, causing her eyes to flutter shut. “The only thing I could die from would be boredom.”

Her eyes immediately flew open and she glared at him tearfully.

“Don’t you joke about dying! It’s not funny! You can’t die!” Elain shrieked causing the three to blink in surprise. “I kept having nightmares about you dying and I couldn’t stop it or -- or -- help you and I wasn’t sure it if it was a vision or -- or -- if you’d come back or not!”

It was the lack of the sleep and the fact that she had missed him and missed how comfortable of a presence he had become in her life that had her openly sobbing now. She missed her friend. She had missed how they were still getting to know each other. She had missed his light.

Her sisters both stood gaping at her, unsure whether to move or not, and Lucien’s heart practically caved in on itself.

“Elain --” he began, a foot moving to cross the room to her,  but before he could, she had closed the distance, crashing into him and tightly wrapping her arms around his middle. She buried her head into his chest and a shot of joy passed through the bond when she inhaled his scent. “I’m sorry, dove. I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

“Liar. You always cause trouble.” she mumbled, sniffling loudly as Lucien kissed the top of her head and ran a hand soothingly down her back.  

She pulled back and met his gaze, still sniffling as he smiled down at her softly and finally, as if realizing that she could properly sleep now because he was  _here_  and very much  _not_  dying, Elain lightly pushed him into the couch he had previously occupied then immediately curled up in his lap.

Lucien froze as had her two sisters, who had been watching dumbfounded and Lucien met their stares. But then, Elain had wrapped an arm around his waist and laced their fingers with the other, burying her head into the crook of his neck this time and Lucien forgot about everything else; nothing else mattered at that moment. Elain pulled her very exposed legs to her chest and leaned into him fully, tilting her head to glance at him with tired eyes.

“I missed you.” she whispered and he leaned down to peck her nose gently.

“I missed you too, dove.” he replied softly. “I’m sorry you couldn’t sleep well...I couldn’t either.”

“I slept in your room every night but without you in it, it didn’t help very much.” she muttered with a frown. “I even stole all your shirts but now they smell like me more than you.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “I have no objections to that.” he said with a chuckle but she nuzzled her head back into the crook of his neck with a soft whine.

“I do. They need to smell like you.”

“Well, I’m here now. I’m sure we can fix that.” he said with a small smile.

“Good. I’m going to make you wear all of them at once so it works faster.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.” Lucien teased and she thumped her fist against his chest when he laughed again. “But as you wish. Even if I collapse from a heat stroke, I’ll make it happen.”

“I’ll have a spray bottle filled with water to use on you. That’ll wake you up.” Elain replied and Lucien felt her smile against him.

“A kiss would work too.”

“Only if you behave. But I know you won’t.” she said with a sleepy giggle.

“Will I still get a kiss then?”

“You know you will.”

Lucien chuckled and hugged her closer against him as she nuzzled her body into his, craving to be even closer than they already were. Her eyes fluttered shut almost instantly then and it took only a minute or two for her breathing to become deep, even. She had completely faded out.

Lucien’s arms tightly wrapped around her and he let one of his hands go back to soothingly rub circles on her back just as he had on the very first night she had come to him for nightmares. He smiled down at her softly, his heart swelling knowing he was the source of her comfort now, that he was the one able to put her at ease. They would definitely need to figure out some kind of an arrangement for any future visits that required him to be gone for more than one night; leaving Elain sleep deprived was certainly not acceptable.

Feyre cleared her throat and Lucien nearly jumped out of his seat. He had completely forgotten the two sisters were still in the same room. He met Feyre’s gaze and then Nesta’s who was looking at him with a combination of disbelief and anger.

“So. How long has that been going on for?” Feyre asked quietly, a brow quirked.

“She used to have nightmares constantly. A few months ago, she came to my room at night and I helped ease her back to sleep.” he explained very softly as to not disturb Elain, his eyes never leaving her face.

“ _How_  exactly did you help her sleep?” Nesta said through gritted teeth and Lucien actually did roll his eyes this time.

“Are you asking me if I fucked your sister to exhaustion?”

Feyre made a choking sound and Nesta gave him a glare so deadly he was surprised his body hadn’t caught fire.

 _“You tell me, you animal.”_  Nesta snarled and Lucien sniggered.

Intimacy was something he constantly teased Elain about, much to her dismay but oh, how he enjoyed it. At some point, Lucien definitely  _planned_ to fuck Elain to the point of exhaustion. But for now, he respected her enough not to openly discuss his lustful plans with her sisters. So he sighed instead and met Nesta’s glare.

“I helped her sleep by letting her do exactly what she’s doing now. Sleeping.” he replied curtly, his eyes back on Elain’s peaceful face. “I was just there to show her she wasn’t alone.”

Feyre’s lips twitched as she glanced at Nesta but then she turned to give Lucien a small smile. “Well...I’m glad she has you now, Lucien.”

“I’m still on the fence about it.” Nesta growled, scowling though relief could be seen on her face as her gaze fell on Elain dozing.

“Too bad for you that you can’t kill me now. It’ll upset Elain.” he said and because he had been alive for far too long to  _actually_  stick his tongue out at her, he settled for a smug expression that would surely piss her off instead.

Nesta glared at him again. “That won’t stop me from thinking about it and describing in full detail how I would do it.” she spat.

He chuckled again then immediately silenced himself as Elain’s fist curled in his shirt and she mumbled incoherently. He looked down to find her face scrunched up, a sign she had started dreaming and Lucien kissed her forehead before standing up slowly and carefully cradled her against him.

“I’m going to go up and lay her down in bed. I have a few days of sleep to catch up on as well so we’ll see you ladies later.” he said quietly and the two sisters just watched as he walked past them and marched up the stairs, Elain fast asleep in his arms, as though being in Lucien’s arms was the only place she belonged.

“I’ll send up dinner later. You don’t have to come down at all.” Feyre whisper-shouted behind them and she heard Lucien chuckle as they disappeared up the stairs.

Nesta’s eyes were narrowed and she stared at the stairs as though it was their fault Elain suddenly tolerated Lucien.

“Did he say a few  _months_ ago?”

“Yup.”

_“Months?”_

“Yup.” Feyre repeated with a grin. “And she was wearing nothing but  _his_ shirt.”

Nesta grumbled darkly as Feyre started laughing.

“I can’t wait to tell those idiots how much money they owe me.” Feyre said with a smirk then held out her hand to Nesta. “You get the honors of paying up first, sister.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always welcome! :)


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